An operating element for inputting an operating command may be in the form of a man-machine interface which can be operated by means of manual actuation, for example. In this case, touching of the operating element can be spatially detected and evaluated, thus providing an operating command.
An input device is described in the document US 2009/0184936 A1, which is incorporated by reference herein, and comprises a cube-shaped module having touch panels on three directly adjacent sides, each of these sides being oriented in one of the three spatial directions. These touch panels can be operated at the same time. It is thus possible to move a mouse pointer in three spatial directions.
A similar input device having a cube-shaped module on whose sides touch panels are arranged is known from the document U.S. Pat. No. 5,483,261, which is incorporated by reference herein. Said document also describes how manual inputs can be displayed on a monitor of a computer.
The document CN 101430619, which is incorporated by reference herein, describes an integrated control system having two sensor areas which are arranged beside one another in the same plane and have different functions. In this case, a first sensor area is combined with a display panel for displaying an object. A second sensor area is used to detect a gesture of a user, as a result of which manipulation, e.g. displacement, of the displayed object can be input to the control system.